By Bizodisha Bureau, Bhubaneswar, November 19, 2020: In what appears to be the biggest-ever robbery in broad daylight in silver city of Cuttack, armed miscreants on Thursday morning looted cash and jewellery worth Rs 12 crore from the branch of IIFL Finance, a leading non-banking finance company.

IIFL Finance Limited is a major non-banking financial company that gives gold loans, business loans including loans against property and microfinance.

These miscreants wore masks and helmets and forcibly entered the IIFL Finance’s premises threatening the lone security guard at gunpoint. The miscreants, who spoke in Hindi and Odia, then rounded up the branch manager and other staff in a toilet and snatched the keys of the locker.

The robbers are understood to have taken away all the gold worth around Rs 12 crore. Incidentally, the CCTV camera of the branch was not functional when the robbery took place.
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Police sources said special teams have been formed to nab the robbers. The borders of the city have been sealed and police officials of neighbouring Jagatsinghpur, Jajpur, Dhenkanal and Kendrapara have been alerted.

There have been a series of armed robberies of banks and ATMs this year in the state. Last month, the police commissionerate had advised banks and financial institutions to improve security systems at branches and ATMs.

In February this year, the Ludhiana branch of IIFL also saw a similar robbery when four armed persons decamped with 30 kilograms of gold worth Rs 13 crore and Rs 3.5 lakh cash.